This invention relates to a window shade; and, more particularly, to a window shade which can be sized to a window when rolled without the need for cutting instruments.
The number of sizes of window openings into which window shades must be fitted is limitless. Practically all shades will be in the range of 25 to 72 inches in roller length, but there are window openings for every dimension within that range, and in older houses, the window openings are frequently less than 25 inches wide. In the application of shades to windows, the shades must conform to the window size rather than the window size conforming to the available size of shades manufactured. This is true not only for newly constructed buildings, but obviously also for those buildings which were erected many years ago. For these reasons, when a customer wants a shade, it is common practice to select an oversized shade and cut its length to conform to the size of the window opening into which the shade is to be mounted.
One type of shade roller now being manufactured includes a solid wooden roller or a hollow metal roller having, at one end, a spring motor connected between the roller and spear which is fixed against rotation in a slotted bracket. The other end of the roller has a cap containing a gudgeon pin which is fixed to the cap and which is adapted to be rotatably mounted in a bracket. A principal outlet for shades of this type and the place in which much of the cutting to size is performed is the variety, discount, or department store. The cutting of the shade to size in such an establishment is at best an annoying undertaking. For example, in the case of a wooden shade roller, the operation requires first pulling the pin and cap at the end of the roller, cutting through the shade material, unwinding the cut portion of the shade material, sawing the roller, chamfering the cut end of the roller and thereafter replacing the cap and pin. To minimize the difficulty, a machine is usually employed in which all of the operations described above are performed. Even with the machine, however, the shortening of window shades for the customer is regarded as a disagreeable and time-consuming task. Because of the number and difficulty of steps required to shorten the shade, it is not customary for this operation to be performed by the consumer in his home.
The window shades described and disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,203,468; 3,299,944; and 3,580,323, all assigned to the assignee of this invention, provide improvements over prior art shades and methods of sizing. These shades comprise two sections, one being telescopable into the other for supporting the shade material so that the shortening of the shade can be effected merely by cutting the shade material and the slat running through the lower edge, sliding the cut material from the roller, and telescoping the projecting portion of the roller into its adjoining section. Shades of this type have eliminated much of the odium theretofore attending shade shortening by providing a structure which can be simply shortened by telescoping one section of the shade roller into another section. The advantages of the invention disclosed in the aforementioned patents are secured in part by providing a shade with telescoping roller, the combination having means for securing the upper edge of the shade material to the roller along its entire length while at the same time permitting one of the roller sections to telescope into the other. In one window shade form, for example, a tube of paper or other easily cuttable material is interposed between the smaller section of the roller and the shade material, the shade material being attached to the larger roller section and to the interposed tube. This interrelationship of roller sections and shade material provides the full support for the upper edge of the shade while permitting the smaller roller section to telescope into the larger one. The attachment of the shade to both the larger roller section and the tube fixes the tube against rotation with respect to the larger roller section. On the other hand, the fixed tube with the shade material attached prevents the shade material from drooping along the side depending from the smaller roller section and when it is cut, the tube can be slid from the roller.
Although the window shades described in the above patents offer significant improvements over prior devices with respect to the simplicity with which the shade can be shortened, they nevertheless require cutting machines or instruments to size the materials of construction. Such cutting operations require time consuming steps and care to permit proper sizing. While attempts have been made to provide window shades when the shade material is adapted to be severed by hand, such proposals still require a number of operations in order to size the shades and have been found less than satisfactory.